Austerity stinks and it's a broken policy...

[Supersub6]

The UN said the UK has 14 million people living in relative poverty sinkov, not me.

I'm sure if at least 4 million of those got off their arses and looked for properly remunerated work, they would drag themselves and their families out of the mire? OMG I'm sounding like old Norman "on yer bike" Tebbit.

Didn't they also say that we need to look after our own instead of giving lots of aid to other places? Sounds a good idea to me.

[alfinyalcabo]

Didn't they also say that we need to look after our own instead of giving lots of aid to other places? Sounds a good idea to me.

Hear hear ..


http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articl...-it-go-and-why

[map]

The UN said the UK has 14 million people living in relative poverty sinkov, not me.

I'm sure if at least 4 million of those got off their arses and looked for properly remunerated work, they would drag themselves and their families out of the mire? OMG I'm sounding like old Norman "on yer bike" Tebbit.

I have no idea of your circumstaces, past or present, but I will comment on your views regarding I'm sure if at least 4 million of those got off their arses and looked for properly remunerated work.
As for my experience(s) after being fortunate working for a company that involved me working in many countries around the world for approxiamately 30 years, then, teaching in China for 11 years I had to return to England recently because of changes in the Visa regulations.
I visited the "Job Centre" for advice....I was told that my experience was worthless in the current employment climate, I had been living outside the U.K. for too long and had to have my passport and identityverified by the British Government.
So, I did.
My, now previous, "Work Coach" seemed pleased to announce "I think I can get you work at BooHoo, filling shampoo bottles".
I was, to say the least, a little disappointed.
I asked to see someone else. After a LOT of being messed about, I was given an appointment to see another "work coach".
He could not have been more helpful and honest.
He agreed that there are no "worthwhile jobs available, I will assist you how ever I can with your application for the job you want to return to in China".
My point is, don't be so arrogant to assume that people who cannot find work means they don't want to work.
As for me, again, I've collected my new NPCC, submitted it to my my future employer and, all being well, I'll get off my arse and return to China, forever, I hope.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

No arrogance involved map. We have a hard core living here in Britain who simply refuse to work, don't want to work and get by on whatever means possible.

Personally, I blame Thatcher and her disciples who destroyed the manufacturing base of this country, crippled the Trade Unions which now means no manufacturing jobs, zero hour contracts and living on the edge of a dystopian society.

If living in relative poverty is a personal choice then I suggest the way out is to get off your arse and sort it. Good luck in China.

[Supersub6]

BT --you forgot to mention the Trade Unions who crippled the country long before Thatcher was in charge.
We, as a country, have been good at pushing the self-destruct button for well over 50 years whether it was governments or Trade Unions.
The docks, shipbuilding, car manufacture, coal industry, aircraft manufacture etc., etc. all suffered very badly because of one or the other. It has been a collective responsibility that it has been allowed to get to where it is now.

I always paid my workers well over the minimum wage, even though the whole success of the business depended on my being able to find enough out-of-print books to catalogue in order to keep the business going.
I am pleased that I shut down when I did at the end of 2008 because I would not be able to pay the going rate because the book trade has suffered because of the digital age and I could not have increased my incomings to pay the extra amounts. Consequently there would have been an extra 10 people looking for work in an area where there isn't much on offer.